On Friday, September 6, the Academy of Doctors of Audiology Student Business plan finalists presented their business plans at the AuDacity 2024 conference in Grapevine, Texas. The Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences sent two teams this year. Fourth-year AuD students, Darla McDonald, Sydney Mingle and Gabriella Norton made it to the final round.
Darla and Sydney took first place with a $5,000 prize and Gabriella took second place, with a $3,000 prize.
The students began their plans as a project in Dr. Stephanie Sjoblad’s Business and Practice Management Course in the spring of their third year of the AuD program. Following the course, Dr. Sjoblad continued to mentor the students who decided to enter the ADA Student Business Plan competition. There were several rounds to advance to the top three and receive an invitation to present to a national audience at AuDacity 2024. Dr. Sjoblad has mentored several teams over the years, with wins in four out of five years. This year was the first year with two teams from UNC took the top prizes.
The ADA Business Plan Competition is geared for audiology students seeking meaningful hands-on business experience, and the opportunity to showcase their knowledge and creativity. Early-round activities included development of a written executive summary and business plan, which was judged on creativity, feasibility, completeness, cohesiveness, professionalism and polish. Finalists received an all-expense-paid trip to the ADA Annual Convention where the Competition culminated with a live general session featuring student presentation pitches, and rapid-fire questions from the judges.
Congratulations Darla, Sydney and Gabriella!
